The Big News: It took 23 years for a Bon Jovi album to debut atop the Billboard Top 200, a feat the group finally accomplished with 2007’s Lost Highway, but it only took two years to do it a second time — the Jersey band’s return to rock The Circle debuted at Number One on this week’s charts. According to Nielsen SoundScan, The Circle sold 163,000 copies in its first week, 27,000 copies more than the week’s Number Two album, Andrea Bocelli’s My Christmas, but well below the 292,000 copies Lost Highway moved in its first week in 2007. Last week’s champ, Carrie Underwood’s Play On, fell to Three with another 128,000 copies sold while Michael Jackson’s This Is It placed fourth and sold 117,000 more copies in its third week.

The CMA Awards had a clear impact on this week’s Billboard Top 200 as Taylor Swift, on the heels of three awards including Entertainer of the Year, saw Fearless‘ sales jump 30 percent, good enough for another 91,000 copies and Number Five. Other albums that benefited from the CMAs with double-digit sales increases include Lady Antebellum’s self-titled LP, Zac Brown Band’s Foundation, Miranda Lambert’s Revolution and Darius Rucker’s Learn to Live, which jumped from 44 to 27 in its 61st week on the chart after the former Hootie & the Blowfish singer became the first black artist to win the CMAs Best New Artist award. (more…)

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The Billboard Top 200 is about to open its doors to older releases after finally eliminating a rule that prevented the discographies of Michael Jackson and the Beatles from being counted toward the week’s top-selling albums chart, Reuters writes. For the past 18 years, the chart generally only reflected the sales of newer albums, but starting with the week ending November 22, older releases will be recognized.

This year’s biggest music events — Michael Jackson’s death and the reissue of the Beatles catalog — inspired the change to include “the true best-sellers in the country,” said chart director Silvio Pietroluongo. Essentially, the Top 200 will now reflect the Nielsen SoundScan sales figures from the Top Comprehensive Albums Chart. (more…)

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The Big News: Carrie Underwood’s Play On gave the former American Idol champ her second consecutive Number One album atop the Billboard Top 200, selling 318,000 in its debut week according to Nielsen SoundScan. Though Play On didn’t come close to matching the 527,000 copies her previous album Carnival Ride sold in its debut week in 2007, it still sold more than enough to unseat last week’s champ, Michael Jackson’s This Is It soundtrack, which dropped to Number Two after pushing another 196,000 copies.

It was a debut-heavy week as four of the Top Five best sellers were new releases, with all five surpassing 100K in sales. Finishing in third place was Andrea Bocelli’s My Christmas with 149,000 soon-to-be-gift-wrapped copies, followed by the Glee: The Music, Vol. 1 soundtrack, which 113,000 Gleeks purchased in its first week. Rounding out the Top Five was the 32nd installment in the Now series with 102,000 copies sold. (more…)

The Big News: The King of Pop resumed his spot at the top of the charts this week. The soundtrack to Michael Jackson’s concert rehearsal documentary This Is It sold 373,000 copies to cruise to Number One on the Billboard Top 200. Jackson albums like Number Ones and Thriller have frequently hit Number One on the Top Comprehensive Charts following his June 25th death, however the albums were ineligible for the Top 200. (Regardless, Number Ones is the best-selling album of 2009.) Jackson’s last official Number One debut came with Invincible in 2001, and This Is It earned Jackson’s best first-week sales since HIStory moved 391,000 units in 1995. (Visit our Michael Jackson page for more news, plus photos and stories from the RS archives.)

Creed’s Full Circle, the band’s first album since 2001’s Weathered, entered the charts at Number Two, selling 110,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The reunited band’s previous two albums, Human Clay and Weathered, both debuted at Number One, with the latter sitting atop the charts for eight straight weeks. Taylor Swift’s Fearless celebrated its 51st week on the charts by selling another 109,000 copies, good for Number Three. Two more debuts rounded out the Top Five: Rod Stewart’s Soulbook and Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Night Castle. (more…)

The Big News: A full week on shelves and digital music services helped propel the Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack to the Number One position on the Billboard Top 200 with another 153,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan — a 33 percent increase over its truncated debut sales week. The soundtrack’s predecessor also topped the charts last year. Tim McGraw’s Southern Voice debuted at Number Two and Michael Buble’s Crazy Love dropped to Number Three after a two-week reign atop the charts, selling another 102,000.

By current estimates, however, New Moon’s tenure at Number One will be short-lived as another soundtrack is poised to take its place: According to Reuters, Michael Jackson’s This Is It is expected to sell between 300,000 to 350,000 copies, giving the King of Pop his sixth Number One album on the Top 200 and his first since 2001’s Invincible. Jackson’s 2003 greatest hits comp Number Ones is the year’s bestselling album with 2.2 million copies, but it was ineligible for the Top 200 when it was leading the pack in sales following Jackson’s June 25th death. (more…)

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The Big News: Twilight Nation couldn’t stand up to the Power of Oprah on the charts, as Michael Buble’s Crazy Love held on to Number One on the Billboard Top 200 after the crooner’s October 9th appearance on Winfrey’s show boosted his disc’s sales to 55 percent more than its first week on shelves. Crazy Love wound up selling 203,000 copies in its second week, outpacing the New Moon soundtrack, which finished at Number Two with 115,000 copies since its rush-release on Friday, October 16th, according to Nielsen SoundScan. By comparison, the Twilight soundtrack finished at Number One with 165,000 copies in its debut week in November 2008.

Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3, Barbra Streisand’s Love is the Answer and Miley Cyrus’ Time of our Lives EP placed at Three-Four-Five respectively. In addition to the New Moon soundtrack, which features new tracks from Thom Yorke, the Killers and Muse, two more debuts found their way into the Top 10: The Flaming Lips’ Embryonic moved 32,000 to claim Number Eight, while Mario’s D.N.A. followed at Nine.

Debuts: In the first of many fights for Xmas supremacy, Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart faced off against David Archuleta’s Christmas from the Heart. (more…)

Britney Spears‘ “3″ quickly silenced any concerns that the song was too controversial to be a hit, becoming the first track since 2006 to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100. An ode to threesomes off Spears’ November 24th The Singles Collection, “3″ becomes the first song since Taylor Hicks’ American Idol coronation song “Do I Make You Proud” in 2006 to debut at Number One on the Hot 100. In addition to topping the Hot 100, “3″ was also Number One on the Digital Songs chart, selling 255,000 downloads in one week according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Look back at Britney Spears’ rise, fall and comeback in photos.

After a near-decade of no Hot 100-topping hits since her debut single “…Baby One More Time,” Spears now has two Number Ones in the span of 52 weeks, as Circus‘ “Womanizer” also topped the Hot 100 exactly a year ago. But whereas “Womanizer” broke records leaping from a debut Number 96 to Number One in one week, “3″ went straight to the top, a feat that’s only been done in the past decade by a quartet of Idol alumni: Hicks in 2006, Carrie Underwood’s “Inside Your Heaven” in ‘05, Fantasia’s “I Believe” in ‘04 and Clay Aiken’s “This is the Night” in ‘03. In fact, the last non-Idol winner to go straight to Number One on the Hot 100 was Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” way back in November 1998. (more…)

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The Big News: The Kiss Army proved unable to defeat Michael Buble, as the Canadian crooner’s Crazy Love topped the Billboard Top 200 with 132,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Kiss and their Walmart-only Sonic Boom had to settle for second place with 108,000 copies, improving on the Number Three debut for Psycho Circus that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees scored in 1998. That album sold 110K in its first week, proving that the number of “Knights In Satan’s Service” haven’t diminished.

Toby Keith’s American Ride cracked 90K to finish in third, one spot ahead of last week’s champ, Barbra Streisand’s Love is the Answer. Rounding out the Top Five, and officially breaking into platinum status, was Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3, which topped a million in sales in its fifth week thanks to another 65,000 sold. (more…)

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The Big News: With several big-name female artists competing for Number One, Barbra Streisand pulled out a stunning victory to claim the top spot of the Billboard Top 200 as a last minute surge helped Love Is the Answer sell 180,000 copies, according to Neilsen SoundScan. Early predictions had Paramore’s Brand New Eyes claiming victory this week, but when the last barcode was swiped, Hayley Williams and company finished at Number Two with 175,000 copies. Mariah Carey had to settle for Number Three as Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel pushed 168,000 units.

It was Streisand’s first Number One album since 1997’s Higher Ground, while Paramore improved greatly on Riot!’s Number 20 debut in 2007. Things weren’t as pleasant for Carey, however: After 2008’s E=MC2 gave the diva the best first-week sales of her career with 463,000 copies, Carey’s oft-delayed Memoirs came crashing back to normalcy with only 168K. In fact, E=MC2 sold more copies in its second week (182,000) than Memoirs sold in its debut. (more…)

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Album sales are down 11.1 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, Reuters reports based on figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. That decline comes even with the influx of sales after Michael Jackson’s death and the release of the Beatles remasters, as both artists’ respective catalogs have combined for about 6.3 million in sales this quarter. Even with the unexpected push from the catalog albums, total sales are still down 13.9 percent from 2008, a year which itself saw its sales drop 14 percent compared to 2007. If the trend continues, this will mark the eighth time in nine years that the record industry has seen a decline.

According to Reuters, 2009’s biggest seller so far has been Michael Jackson’s Number Ones compilation, which sold 1.8 million copies since the King of Pop’s death on June 25th. Sluggish sales can’t be blamed on a lack of marquee releases, though, as artists who have generally gone multiplatinum in the past — like Green Day, Eminem, Dave Matthews Band and U2 — have all put out high-profile releases this year. Eminem’s Relapse has lead the charge with 1.4 million copies since its release in May. After 30 weeks on the Billboard chart, U2’s No Line on the Horizon reached platinum two weeks ago, while Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown and DMB’s Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King have yet to pass the million copies sold mark. (more…)

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The Big News: As expected, Pearl Jam’s ninth album Backspacer stormed to the Number One spot on this week’s Billboard Top 200, selling 189,000 copies according to Neilsen SoundScan. While Backspacer gave Pearl Jam their first Number One since 1996’s No Code, the album sold roughly 90,000 less copies than its predecessor Pearl Jam did in its opening week in 2006. After two weeks at the top, Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 nestled into Two with another 134,000 copies sold. Three Days Grace enjoyed their best debut yet as Life Starts Now reached Number Three, while Whitney Houston’s I Look to You and Miley Cyrus’ Time of Our Lives EP rounded out the Top Five.

Over on Billboard’s Top Catalog Chart, where the Fab Four and the King of Pop continue to battle it out, Michael Jackson reclaimed his top spot as Number Ones surpassed Abbey Road, which was the chart’s top seller for two consecutive weeks. The Beatles’ remasters take up 13 of the top 16 spots on the Catalog charts, with Jackson occupying the other three. Only the remaster for Yellow Submarine finds itself outside the Top 20 Catalog, coming in at 24. (more…)

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The Big News: Jay-Z stayed put in Number One on the Billboard 200 as The Blueprint 3 scored the top spot for a second consecutive week, selling an additional 298,000 copies with a little help from high-profile appearances on the VMAs and The Jay Leno Show. On the strength of her interview with Oprah Winfrey, Whitney Houston saw sales of her comeback album I Look To You increase by 77 percent over the previous week, reclaiming Number Two with 156,000 copies sold according to Nielsen SoundScan. A pair of debuts also surpassed the 100K mark at Number Three and Four: Muse’s The Resistance and Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon: The End of Day with 128K and 104K respectively. Miley Cyrus’ Time of Our Lives EP rounded out the Top Five.

Over on the Beatles front, the Fab Four’s remastered reissues continued to dominate Billboard’s Top Catalog Charts, scoring 14 of that chart’s Top 20 positions. Abbey Road, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, sold another 50,000 to lead the charge, and while Michael Jackson’s Number Ones came in at Number Two on the Catalog chart, the Beatles grabbed Number Three through Seven with Sgt. Pepper’s, The Beatles, Rubber Soul, Revolver and Help!. (more…)

The Big News: Jay-Z may have won the battle of the charts, but the Beatles won the war. Jigga’s The Blueprint 3 debuted at Number One on Billboard’s Top 200 with 476,000 copies sold, giving him one of the best first weeks in 2009, but the Fab Four were the big story as their remastered catalog combined to sell 626,000 albums 40 years after the majority of the LP were originally released, according to Nielsen SoundScan. BP3 marks Jay-Z’s 11th trip to the top of the charts, meaning he has surpassed Elvis Presley to become the solo artist with the most Number One albums of all time. Blueprint 3 also improved on the 425,000 copies American Gangster sold in its debut in 2007.

Like Michael Jackson’s albums, the Beatles weren’t eligible for the Top 200, but on the Comprehensive Albums chart, the Fab Four simply dominated as fans rushed to hear the band’s remastered work. 1969’s Abbey Road was the week’s Number Three album, selling 89,000 copies. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band finished at Number Five with 74,000 copies en route to passing the quadruple platinum mark. In total, the Beatles had five albums in the Comprehensive’s Top 10, and nine in the Top 20. (more…)

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The Big News: As expected, Whitney Houston reclaimed the crown of Queen of the Charts as her comeback album I Look To You cruised to Number One with 304,000 copies sold, almost double the amount sold by the week’s Number Two record, Miley Cyrus’ Time of Our Lives EP. I Look to You was Houston’s first album to debut atop the Top 200 since 1987’s Whitney, and the 304,000 copies represent the best-selling debut week of Houston’s career, surpassing the 205,000 copies Just Whitney sold in 2002 (that album only peaked at Number Nine).

Trey Songz also had a strong week as Ready debuted at Number Three with 130,000 copies sold. Luckily for Songz, 80,000 copies separated Ready from the week’s Number Four album, Insane Clown Posse’s Bang! Pow! Boom!. Last week’s champ Colbie Caillat and her Breakthrough rounded out the Top Five. Over on the Comprehensive Albums chart, where Michael Jackson sales are counted, the King of Pop’s Number Ones placed fourth, ahead of ICP, with 56,000 copies sold. (more…)

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The Big News: Colbie Caillat’s Breakthrough proved to be just that as the “Fallin’ For You” singer’s second album became her first to debut atop the Top 200, selling 106,000 copies. The sales more than double the first-week numbers of Caillat’s 2007 debut LP Coco, which entered the charts at Number Five with 51,000 copies. Coco went on to achieve double platinum status. Debuts were the trend this week as four of the Top Five were fresh releases: Christian rockers Skillet debuted in Number Two as Awake moved 67,000, Miley Cyrus’ Time of Our Lives EP grabbed Number Three and Imogen Heap’s Ellipse entered at Number Five. Kings of Leon’s Only By The Night filled out the Top Five at Number Four and a 15 percent sales gain over last week.

Over on the Comprehensive Albums chart, where Michael Jackson’s discography applies, the King of Pop’s Number Ones sold an additional 68,000 copies and was defeated only by Caillat’s Breakthrough. Whereas recent weeks have seen a decline in Jackson sales, the Jackson catalog actually had a small surge this week — likely due to Jackson’s global birthday tributes — and Thriller lead the way with a 42 percent sales increase, good for 35,000 more copies and a Number Nine spot on the Comprehensive chart. (more…)